British three time Grand Slam Champion and double Olympic gold medallist Andy Murray has announced his planned retirement from the sport he loves, possibly as near as the end of the Australian Open which is due to start next week. Clearly distraught from the fact he has to retire so soon at the age of 31 whilst other players such as Federer play on healthily into their late 30's, Murray did as best he could to hold back the tears at a press conference earlier today.

What is most revealing about his interview with the press is the fact that the pain in his right hip is not just experienced during playing tennis matches but also performing basic day to day tasks such as putting shoes and socks on. If he is experiencing pain from basic gentle body movements such as this, his hip must be in a far more damaged state than most had thought and surely this seals his fate to bow out of the tennis world this year for good.

Murray also said he would like to retire after playing one more time at Wimbledon in the summer but he wasn't sure whether he could cope with the pain and whether his hip would last that long.

Being no naive sportsman Murray has been in regular contact with Grand Slam doubles legend Bob Bryan who had major hip surgery last year - the likes of what Murray will need whether he continued to play or not. Even though this has allowed Bryan to return to competition, doubles is a far less physical game than singles where you can get away with major surgery and still have a lasting career - even at the age of 40. Running around tirelessly at the back of the court as a singles player who has based his entire career on defense and getting that last ball back into play is another matter entirely.

Murray has not won an ATP title since March 2017 in Dubai and is currently ranked 230th in the world. His comeback last year swiftly faltered, after losing in the first round to Nick Kygrios at Queens, he only managed to make it to the second at Eastbourne where he was beat by fellow Brit Kyle Edmund. He was then forced to withdraw from the Quarter Finals at the Washington Open due to exhaustion. His final game was in late September in Shenzhen, China. Since then Murray has been working with his physio to try and alleviate the pain. But as he openly admitted in the Press conference, his pain is too much...

"The pain is too much really," he said. "I need to have an end point because I'm playing with no idea of when the pain will stop.
"I'd like to play until Wimbledon - that's where I'd like to stop playing - but I'm not certain I'm able to do that.

His first match in the Australian Open isn't going to be kind either. He is up against Roberto Bautista Agut, the Doha champion who dominated in lengthy spells of the final before finally defeating Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard is most definitely going to have Murray running side to side for almost every point in an endless series of exhaustive rallies. Whether Murray will even be able to last one best of 5 sets match remains to be seen. Though the Brit competed in the US Open as part of his comeback last year, he may feel even more vulnerable and demoralised at the Australian Open given his acceptance of retirement being is only choice. Then again he may use this to spur him through the pain and look to deliver one last charge at a major before he hangs up his racket.

Watch the Press Conference: An Emotional Murray Announces his Planned Retirement